


Touched

by ssironstrange



Series: Resurrected Hearts, Mended Souls [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), IronStrange - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: A little angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dating, Falling In Love, First Time, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Gay Sex, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, Making Love, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romantic Fluff, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-26 10:04:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14998496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssironstrange/pseuds/ssironstrange
Summary: It's a second date, and a first time for a lot of things for Stephen and Tony.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> written for @beholdinghim based on their beautiful art!! Which you can view here:  
> stephen: https://beholdinghim.tumblr.com/post/174992743072/part-2-stephen-waking-up-in-the-morning-i  
> tony: https://beholdinghim.tumblr.com/post/174947480752/just-imagine-this-is-what-stephen-saw-the

This time, it wasn’t an accident caused by his own overactive thoughts and big mouth.  
The date was fully intentional, only it was Stephen to ask him instead. Tony hardly gave him the time to finish asking before he agreed. Their first one had been all he could think about for an entire week, which left him incredibly distracted and rather useless when it came to actually getting any work done.  
Bruce noticed it first, of course. As Tony’s primary lab partner, he fell victim to most of his distracted blunders. Details were withheld - but Stark did at least let him in on the fact he was seeing someone. For that reason, Bruce could easily forgive him for all the pinched fingers and jolting shocks - it had been too long since Tony had any sort of happiness.  
Peter knew immediately. And that was Stephen’s fault with all his suggestive flirting.  
Unbeknownst to them, the wall-crawler was still in the lab when it all happened. He heard and saw it all. Even worse, he actually waited for Tony’s return to the compound to start hounding him with questions about how the date went, how happy he was for them, that he supported them (and even had the audacity to admit to Tony that he had a hunch about his sexuality. Not that he was wrong - but who did he think he was??), and that their secret was safe with him. It was something that made him cringe, the fact that it had to stay secret. But it did - he wasn’t ready to drop a publicity bomb on the heads of his team. He wasn’t even sure if Strange was out yet. So it had to stay hidden as if it were some shameful affair. At least Peter seemed to understand; Stark trusted the kid enough now to know he wouldn’t go spreading rumors.

Eight horribly long days passed before he heard from Stephen again. Each one crawled by slower than the last. The memory of how those trembling fingers danced across his skin and the softness of his lips were about the only thing that kept him sane while at the same time driving him mad with impatience. Then finally, his phone rang.

Tony had _vastly_ underestimated just how romantic Stephen could be. The sanctum had been secluded entirely for them with Wong and other associates convinced to stay in Kamar-Taj for the next 24 hours. He had made a stunning dinner by himself served with a smooth vintage red wine of which he seemed to have endless supply of. Being Sorcerer Supreme wasn’t profitable, but the people he helped did like to offer their generosity in the form of gifts. A well curated playlist of easy rock serenaded quietly around them, of which they had a blast quizzing each other about release dates. Their musical tastes were identical, although Tony would readily admit Stephen had a freakish ability to know the most obscure facts about any given song or band. Wine-addled minds soon had the pair chattering and giggling up a storm about shared experiences, things they liked and disliked, what life was like before any of the superhero stuff. 

Stephen’s usually cool demeanor thawed completely. He was all bright smiles and warm laughter and it made Tony’s stomach twist and his heart quicken. Drunk or sober, there was something about Strange that made him feel at ease and peaceful. At times it even felt like he had known him his entire life and was simply rekindling something they once had. Tony didn’t understand it but he wasn’t sure there was anything to understand about it; It simply was what it was, and Stark happily accepted that.

Out on the balcony of the sanctum for some fresh air, Tony had a startling epiphany as he simply admired the man leaning down on the railing, his head tilted up to the night sky. It made him set down his wine glass, for once thinking it was time to stop. He wanted so badly to blame it on the inebriation, but Tony felt this in his bones, deep down into the very core of his whole being.  
It had taken years to gain that with Pepper - years of torment and pain and worry and mistakes. So many mistakes.  
So how the _fuck_ was it that he was already in love with him?  
After just two dates? After only knowing one another for a year at most and rarely interacting? The occasional visit for repairs and translations, teaming up here and there to deal with a particular baddie. There wasn’t anything personal there - they barely even spoke at all in such instances. How, then?

“Tony?” Stephen’s voice held a gentle note of concern. He had ceased his stargazing of the night sky that only offered a few twinkling lights to behold within the inner city limits.  
Instead his eyes were fixed on Stark. Eyes that held a shifting ethereal plane of existence all on their own, an almost unnaturally light green with hints of blue woven in. Dark brows above were raised and drawn in together a hair as his concern grew from Stark’s lack of response. This was too similar to how he shut down during one of his infamous anxiety attacks, but Stephen knew it wasn’t one. His breathing was still normal, his pupils hadn’t blown to ten times their size, he wasn’t shaking. Stephen crossed the distance between them in a few gliding steps of his long legs, then centered himself in front of Tony, who just stared. Blankly.  
Large yet delicate hands cupped his face while barely letting off a faint yellowish glow to give him a gentle tingling sensation in hopes of dragging him out of whatever he was stuck in.  
It worked. Tony’s eyes fluttered with rapid blinks, focusing on the gorgeous face before him and the warmth of his unsteady hands.

“Where did you go?” Stephen asked while his thumbs gently stroked against his cheeks.  
“Sorry,” Tony sighed quietly and raised his hands to settle over Stephen’s. “Too much good wine I guess.” He lied.  
Strange didn’t buy it for a second, but he chose not to pry into it. If he wasn’t ready to share, it wasn’t his place to force the issue. So he smiled and lifted a hand - along with Tony’s - from his face and raised it to his lips where he pressed light kisses against his knuckles.  
“You know what goes excellently with a good wine drunk?”  
“I, uh, no? What?” Damn Strange and his ability to so easily get him flustered.  
Stephen grinned over his hand. “Bubble baths.”


	2. Chapter 2

It should have surprised Tony that the sentient cloak was part of this whole thing, but after the things he had seen since donning the Iron Man armor that was rather mundane in comparison. However, it did amuse him that Stephen not only had a wingman for tonight, but that it also seemed eager to have them together. Apparently he had the cloak’s approval and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that.   
It was the floating crimson fabric that already had the bath drawn with a mountain of bubbles sitting atop the water and spilling over the sides. Upon their arrival, it flipped off the lights and swept out of the room to go and busy itself with the next task Stephen had assigned. Tony struggled to the room, his intoxication certainly playing a part but it was Stephen with his arms draped over his shoulders, Stephen with kisses against his neck and ears, Stephen who was whispering wretchedly lewd things even by Tony’s standards, that proved to be his main source of complication.  
Eventually, though, they stepped into the dark and humid bathroom of Stephen’s quarters where the sorcerer gave a sweeping flourish of his hand and candles - dozens of them - lit up at once. On the floor, countertops, the sink, back of the toilet, they were everywhere. It gave the steamy room a warm glow that was just enough to comfortably navigate details. This was the most cliche romantic bullshit he had ever witnessed, straight out of some bad teenage romance movie.  
And Tony was a total sucker for it.  
He couldn’t even think of a time when anyone went to such lengths on his behalf. No one had ever tried to woo him. What he’d had before was riddled with so much chaos and so little time to actually experience any sort of romance, and anything before that was meaningless and hollow.

“I might have overdone it a bit.” Stephen spoke up from behind, a most subtle hint of uncertainty lingering in his pitch.  
Tony’s silence was disturbing him. Stark never had issue striking up conversation or finding interesting topics to discuss. He never drew a blank on a witty remark. He was one of the most charismatic men Stephen had ever known and even if most of it was a front for the public that was still largely who he was as a person. A quiet Tony usually meant he was deep in thought, about to have a breakdown, or asleep. So, Stephen worried. He worried about making a mess of this all and driving him away.  
“No,” Finally, Tony said something. “No, it’s perfect. I’m just.. God, I’m… you…” He huffed at his complete lack of composure and focus. Tony turned around beneath the arms upon his shoulders to face him. Good god he was beautiful. How the shadows danced across his face was remarkable and mesmerizing.   
“Would you believe it if I told you I’ve never done something like this before?”  
“What… take a bubble bath?” Stephen quirked a brow.  
“What? No, dumbass.” He chuckled and took Stephen’s arms off his shoulders so he could hold one of those shaky hands. His other stretched out, motioning to, well, everything. “This. All of it. The... romance.”  
“Ah,” Strange grinned softly. “Then let me have the honors of doing it first.”

The timing for the next song was _too_ perfect - Tony had a hunch Stephen might have been manipulating it even at a distance. Although it was softer so far from the speakers, the music could still be heard clear enough. Journey’s “Faithfully” started and that was it for Tony. This was the most sentimental bullshit. When had he turned so soft? Or, maybe - Tony entertained this thought only for a few seconds - he had always been this way and Stephen was the first to bring it out in him.  
Regardless, it didn’t stop him from feeling silly about it all. He wasn’t some blossoming schoolgirl who scribbled hearts and initials all over everything about a crush. He was Tony Fucking Stark who openly and often invited people to bed for hot, animalistic sex and wild orgies. He was the party.  
Ten years and some change ago, at least.

Tony let his head drop as he laughed and shook it. Maybe because he knew the exact feeling, Stephen wasn’t going to allow Tony to feel at all awkward or ridiculous about any of it. There was no reason the billionaire shouldn’t be allowed to let loose and indulge himself in a little classic romance. Far too long the man had been living a life catered to other people’s desires under the guise of cocky and unshakeable confidence when Stephen _knew_ how vulnerable he really was and how his selfless need to help often resulted in his own damage. He knew even better how people took advantage of that.  
If nothing else, Strange was bound and determined to break that cycle.  
With his free hand he lifted Tony’s head by the chin, bringing those deep bourbon browns to meet his gaze and his thumb stroked gingerly against the dark hairs at his chin. (Which he was extremely jealous of given the amount of grays Stephen had seemed to grow by the day.) He leaned down the few inches of difference between them to press a kiss so tender it was scarcely more than the brush of a butterfly’s wing. Sluggish and gradual he deepened it, savoring every moment. Out of habit Tony had the urge to shove him against the wall and _attack_ those plush lips of his, but he resisted and allowed the tantalizing slowness. Stephen released his hand and let his fingers slip beneath the hem of his shirt where they could trace along the defined valleys of toned muscle of his stomach. Light as it was, the touch still made Tony draw in a sudden breath through his nose and part lips momentarily to exhale.  
Stephen was more intoxicating than the best wine known to man, and Tony was already finding him addicting.

Another trembling hand soon joined the other in it’s exploration, rising higher little by little which lead to Stephen pulling the fitted tee off of him entirely. Tony pulled him in for more of the languid kisses, his own hands working the buttons of the doctor’s shirt undone until it was easily pushed off his shoulders to slide off his arms to the floor.  
Every time. Every damn time he saw him shirtless he had to do a double take for just how _fine_ of a man he was. Tony drank him in. Not for long, though. Stephen was on the move, kneeling down before him. He expected his pants to come off next - why else did anyone ever get on their knees like that? But, no. Stephen just… kissed. His chest and ribs and stomach and hips, pausing for a soft nibble or swipe of his tongue here and there.  
Somehow, it was driving him just about as crazy as if he were blowing him. Tony threaded his fingers into his hair and leaned back to clutch the edge of the tub. Just when it seemed he would finally get to work on his pants, Stephen moved up again and caused Tony a breathy laugh.  
“You are the _worst_ tease.”  
Stephen grinned into another kiss. “Mmm… yeah, I am, actually.” As if to emphasize that, the kisses stopped and he raised himself back up to his feet. Tony would have to be a patient boy as he struggled with the button of his own slacks. He had plenty of patience to spare, but Tony gently smacked the sorcerer’s hands away to take over for him. Kisses were peppered against his neck and shoulder in the process until the familiar whisper of fabric sliding down skin was heard. Stephen shifted foot to foot, stepping out of shoes and pants at once, socks toed off. He allowed Tony a good, long look before turning away and stepping into the tub where he sank into the bubbles. A little swirl of the water heated it back up to a nearly scalding temperature - something he knew Tony preferred.  
Stark was far less graceful getting out of his trousers, half tripping and hopping around, shoes kicked off with socks and he all but tumbled into large claw-foot tub which sent bubbles flying and water splashing right into Stephen’s face.  
Tony Stark, one very uncoordinated and not at all suave man in the presence of the one and only Stephen Strange.


	3. Chapter 3

Spacious as it was, Stephen’s bathtub could hardly compare to his own at home - which was basically a jacuzzi for how large it was. Yet, there was a particular appeal to the smaller, more intimate space where their legs had to cross over each other’s to stretch out. It gave Tony the opportunity to pinch and poke Stephen’s sides with his toes. He tried to resist - Tony gave him credit for that - but it wasn’t long until Strange snorted laughter and grabbed the offending feet below the water.

Tony grinned wickedly through the bubbles he was quite literally buried in. He looked utterly ridiculous, though Stephen had to assume he probably looked about the same himself.  
“Good to know if you ever turn into some evil dark magic warlock I can take you down by tickling.”  
“As if you don’t have any ticklish spots?” Strange huffed some bubbles away from his face.  
“None.”  
His feet still in hand, Stephen dragged his fingers along the soles of them lightly. He felt them twitch, so instead he used his nails. With a feminine squeal and bubbly giggle, Tony instantly drew his knees up with such force it sent water lapping over the sides to splash onto the floor. Stephen stared at him with lofted brows and a smirk.  
“Yeeeah. None. Right.”  
“I’m just drunk and _sensitive_!” Tony defended with a pout that Stephen could only roll his eyes at.  
“Tony, I have personally seen you drink an entire bottle of wine on top of jager shots in under thirty minutes and hardly be tipsy. You’re full of bullshit is what you are.”  
“Wow, how dare you?” His feigned offense was so overdramatic.  
“Oh, I dare.”  
Stephen leaned forward to grab Tony’s calves and yanked him forward, causing a comical squeak as his ass dragged across the porcelain bottom. Once again water splashed and spilled everywhere, extinguishing a few candles nearby. Easily he slipped a very wiggly and laughing Tony up into his lap to straddle.  
Bubbles were swatted out of the way between them and wiped from Stephen’s hair and face before Tony settled his arms onto his shoulders. In the heat of the water, his hands could relax a little more and shake a little less which Stephen used to his advantage for smooth, gliding touches along Tony’s thighs, slowly to his hips, then finally around and down to settle on the most exquisite rump Stephen had ever seen - or touched for that matter.

Tony let his head tilt down and rested his forehead against Strange’s. Eyes closed, he drew in a deep breath of contentment and just sat there soaking in the moment. He couldn’t even recall the last time he was so plainly happy. No mental background noise to mask, no impending doom lurking around the corner, no worry over teammates or mission details. Best of all, though, was how genuine Stephen’s affections were. He kept expecting an ulterior motive or judgement but it never came. How it came to be that a wizard of all people seemed to understand and accept him with his copious amount of flaws, Stark would probably never know.  
But he was glad for it. Even if it didn’t last, since these things never did, he was grateful for a sliver of happiness again. Tony had been so honestly afraid that after the one and only person he had ever loved died that he would never crawl back out of the pit he’d fallen into.  
And then along came Stephen who had jumped into that pit with him to show him the way out with infinite patience and understanding. No one had ever even _considered_ that approach before.  
Tony’s second epiphany of the night came upon him abruptly; If not for Stephen refusing to be pushed away like everyone else, if not for Stephen finding excuses to work with him, if not for Stephen making a connection while he was at his worst, then he would have given up. As much as he cared for Peter, the kid had an entire team of mentors that made his own role rather insignificant. He had a life he was busy living - one he almost didn’t get to have.  
It was Stephen who single-handedly managed to pull him back from a line that once crossed there was no coming back from. 

Leaning back, Tony thickly swallowed through a growing tightness in his throat and looked - really, truly _looked_ \- at the man who unknowingly saved his life. Stephen could see the inner turmoil dancing within his eyes that could somehow convey more in a single look than the entire English language. His hand raised from the water, fingers shaping a few gestures to work out a little spell to dissolve away the bubbles so he could get a proper look at his face and watch for the subtle hints of body language that might key him into what was going on behind those eyes.  
“Are you sure you’re alright with this, Tony? You don’t have to indul--”  
“Yes. God, fuck yes I’m more than alright.” His voice was a touch shaky. He swallowed hard again. “More than you can imagine. I’m - I’m alright.” He said as if confirming it with himself, and smiled for the fact it was the truth.  
Stephen found himself smiling as well. He didn’t need the context or process of Stark’s thoughts to know what that meant. The conviction in his voice was a dead give away. And god, what a relief it was to hear him say it. Strange wasn’t as ignorant to Tony’s dangerous state of mind as he might have thought him to be. He was, in fact, keenly aware of the very volatile state he had been in. For him, it was as obvious as day. For him, that mindset was an unfortunately familiar place to be.   
“Good.” Stephen leaned in, arms circling around him as he did. Lips pressed against the center of his chest, right against the circular scar that had once been home to the signature arc reactor. “Alright is good. Alright is enough.” Head tilted up and eyes raised upwards to him. “ _You_ are enough.”  
Just when he had that damn lump gone from his throat, Stephen had to go and say that and made it come back even stronger. He brought his hands up to either side of Stephen’s jaw, then hunched down to seal their lips together.   
Strange could easily feel the tremble in his bottom lip. Determined to chase it away, he kissed back with hot eagerness and opened it to an adventurous tongue. Both hands returned to his hips to hold him down against the rolling, grinding motion of his own.


	4. Chapter 4

The water had gone tepid and several candles burned themselves out. After the playlist had reached it’s end the only sounds were their own echoing softly against the lack of acoustics. Water lapped against the sides of the tub and against both of them with every slow grind. Soft, wet, breathless kisses shared over and over again as though they were both starved for the other’s lips. Tony’s moans carried and seemed amplified despite doing his best to be quiet. Stephen’s lower pitched sighs even seemed loud.  
Or maybe they were _actually_ being loud and Tony was so insanely focused on the friction between them and fingers inside of him that he couldn’t really tell.  
This was so different from anything he’d experienced before. Not even the physical pleasures could compare to how intense his emotional connection was to him. Tony didn’t have a damn clue he could feel so profoundly bonded with another person. It was both terrifying and fulfilling, like Stephen was in his head navigating through the chaos to pull every right string. No - it was deeper than that, even. More like Stephen had reached into his very soul and weaved himself into it until theirs resonated exactly the same.  
Physical pleasure simply amplified it, turned it into some sort of deeply erotic and meaningful feedback loop he didn’t know how to process.

“Stephen…” Tony crooned against his lips, whined as fingers pushed inside him again. “I need a - ahhhnnn - a timeout.” He felt high. Words were hard enough to think of, much less speak. “It’s - it’s too much.”  
“Fingering is too much? For the man who, and I quote, ‘Does it almost every day?’” He teased as his head dipped down to the side of his neck for a gentle bite.  
“Fuck, please, just… just stop for a second.” Tony’s voice cracked.  
Stephen withdrew his digits and stilled the rolling of his hips. Concerned, he raised a hand from the water to caress the side of his face.  
“Talk to me, what’s wrong?”  
“Nothing,” Tony sighed out relief, head clearing enough to actually think. “It’s just a lot of - I don’t know - emotion? But more than that, too. Like…” He waved a vague gesture before his hand settled against the scar on his chest. “Like - this sounds utterly moronic - I can feel you as… part of me.”  
Tony expected an amused grin, playful mocking, quiet laughter - any or all of it. Instead it was a shocked silence and Stephen’s face screwed into an almost worried concentration that slowly eased into surprise.  
“I’ll be damned…” The sorcerer whispered, more to himself than anything. Tony opened his mouth, but Stephen continued before he spoke. “That’s because you _were_ feeling that. Tony, you’re magically inclined - sensitive to the mystic arts.”  
“The fuck? Now _I’m_ a wizard?”  
Stephen chuckled deep from his belly. “Not even close. Not without training, at least. It just means you can pick up strong mystical energies.”  
“And that’s what I was feeling? Your, uh… energy?” Even after everything he had seen, this was still a stretch for his scientific mind - one that understood engineering, mechanics, mathematics - not something that still seemed so outlandish as magic. Not something that seemed to defy the laws of science.  
“Mmmhm. More or less.” Strange leaned forward again to kiss along the defined edge of a pec. “Apparently I have issues containing it when we’re together.” His lips dragged over the nipple where his tongue stroked and flicked and circled around the hardened nub.  
“ _Apparently_.” Stark shot back with sarcasm, only for the topic to be immediately dropped in favor of returning to previous activities.

Tony had to hand it to him - Stephen was expertly skilled when it came to knowing how to manipulate a body. After the bath had gone from luke warm to chilly, they migrated to the bed where Stephen worked him into a writhing and whimpering mess begging for release at least three times. Once with just his mouth. It was unnatural just how good he was at sucking dick and eating ass - Tony was pretty sure he had seen stars at one point. The second time was a mixture of his fingers and a small vibrator as Stephen began the painfully slow process of readying him for the real thing. Of course, in his brain he felt more than ready and pleaded with him several times to just put it in and fuck him. Every time he was denied and driven just a little more insane. By the third time, Tony thought he seriously might have a stroke if he wasn’t allowed to cum. Stephen sucked him off while slowly fucking him with a dildo closer to his own size, then ceased both at once the second Tony reached that peak - refusing him any stimulation again until he came back down from the pleasure-high.  
Stephen almost pitied him. His frustration was at such an extreme that he had wetness gathering at the corners of his eyes and he could nearly feel a sympathetic ache that Tony was no doubt experiencing at the moment. Worse, Strange pinned his hands down against the mattress with fingers entwined to ensure he wouldn’t touch himself.  
It was maddening torture of the best kind.  
Tony arched his back in a feeble attempt to grind himself against the asshole above him, but Stephen just raised himself out of the way and grinned his victory down at him.

“For fucks sake, Stephen,” Tony whined and pressed his head back into the pillow rather hard. His voice wavered, threatening to crack. “My balls are going to rupture if you do that one more goddamn time.”  
So angry. The only kind of anger Stephen enjoyed from him.  
“Don’t be so dramatic. Take some deep breaths and calm down.”  
“Fuck you.” Though the words were harsh, there wasn’t a drop of venom to them.  
“Well, that _is_ the plan.” Stephen smirked and pissed him off more. “Come on - like I told you before. Four in, four out.” Times like these, he was grateful for yoga. Who knew the same breathing techniques could apply so very well to other activities!  
Tony glared at him long and hard before finally relenting. Little by little he relaxed tense and strained muscles and started the slow inhales and exhales deep down to the bottom of his lungs. Four seconds in… four seconds out. Again and again until he felt his heart stop racing and the burn in his groin die down. Again and again until the rock hard erection softened and he didn’t feel like punching his boyfriend in his beautiful face for being so cruel.  
Then, and only then, Stephen unlocked their fingers and released his hands to sit beside him on folded knees.  
“This tantric thing can go fuck itself.” Stark huffed and rubbed at his eyes to wipe away the tears that had started to well from pure frustration.  
“To be fair, one needs to have _patience_ for it.” His hand extended, fingers stroking through dark strands, gentle and comforting. “But I promise it will be worth it.”  
“You could have fucked me in the bath and it would have been worth it. I’m a grown ass man, I don’t need my first time to be special.” Try as he might, he couldn’t keep any anger to his words. Not while Stephen was petting him so calmly like that.  
“Maybe _I_ do.”  
Tony lifted his gaze to him, a little surprised by such an admission and a touch guilty to have only thought of his own wants and needs. Stephen had been focusing solely on him for the past few hours, for once he had actually forgotten this went both ways. The dusting of pink deepend on his high, sharp cheeks before he removed his hand from Tony’s hair and rolled to the side and off the bed to busy himself with taking the toys they’d used to the bathroom to clean.  
“Steeepheeen, those can wait,” Tony called after him in his best pouty voice possible. “Come back to me.”  
No reply. Only the sound of running water.  
He pouted - for real. Later he would apologize for such selfish thinking. After all the work Stephen had put into tonight, Tony desperately wanted to keep the mood going and let him finish whatever this grand plan of his was. Negative, intrusive thoughts were pushed down with a heavy sigh and he rolled over onto his stomach to peer over the edge of the bed into the open drawer of the night stand. Apparently Stephen had done a little shopping for them if he were to judge by the unopened packages of different sized vibrators, new box of condoms(which he adamantly refused from the start - after all his slutting around he’d been tested enough to know he was clean.), and even a variety of lubricants. Oddly enough, it was quite a thoughtful gesture. Most men he knew wouldn’t have spared a second thought for anything beyond their own preference, much less have several backups if something didn’t work out. Arms dangled over the edge and he plucked out a couple of the bottles to compare the labels and see what the big difference about them was.

Stephen’s hands pressed into the bed at either side of him; Sometimes Tony hated how silent he could be as it often scared the shit out of him. Then the scratchiness of his goatee tickled against his back as he planted kisses between his shoulders.  
“Don’t bother with those. The one we’ve been using is best for you. Those were just in case.” More kisses spread across a shoulder blade.  
His weight shifted onto one hand as the other vanished for a moment. A quiet click was heard, the bottle they had been using opened. Tony dropped the other two back into the drawer and glanced over his shoulder to catch a quick glimpse of Stephen coating himself, but that view was blocked as he dipped his head down beside Tony’s for a firm kiss.  
The heat of his cock as it pushed between firm cheeks was a touch surprising after lifeless toys, but god it felt good and reignited the fire that had calmed moments ago.  
“Wait,” Tony pulled away from his lips. “Not like this.”  
Stephen canted his head a bit to the side, fixing Tony with a questioning gaze. He almost didn’t notice the redness that crept up to his cheeks it was so subtle against the lovely tan of his skin.  
“I want to be facing you. I want to see you.”


	5. Chapter 5

Now, Tony finally understood why Strange was so adamant about making sure he was ready for this. Over the years he had experimented with himself using fingers, small pocket-sized vibrators and even the occasional prostate stimulator, but never anything more. Despite the hours of arduous foreplay and edging, it still hurt a little. Yet, in a way he didn’t mind so much. Like the burning ache that came the day after a hard workout, it was a good pain that he sort of craved more of. For now, he was thankful Stephen had more length than girth or else he would have needed a couple of days to prepare himself.  
Stephen hilted, his hips flush against Tony’s meaty backside. Already there was a quiver to his thighs that took him back a few decades as he recalled the first time he found the courage to let another man fuck him. All the nervousness and fear, temporarily dealing with the pain, fatigued muscles - the whole nine yards. His first lover hadn’t been so considerate. Stephen wasn’t about to make that mistake.

“Relax, baby.” Stephen crooned gently as his hands glided along the outside of Tony’s thighs wrapped around him. “Keep breathing.”  
If not for his face already burning red, that simple pet name might have done the trick. Tony was the one who called people cutesy names, they didn’t dare do it to him. Until now, anyway. His advice was taken, trying as best he could to keep breathing steadily and force tensed muscles to cooperate.  
“Tell me to stop if you need me to. Seriously.” Stephen said in earnest.  
Tony just nodded and swallowed hard, finally cracking open a tightly shut eye to peer up at him. Fuck, what a beautiful man. A weirdly exotic kind of beautiful, the kind of beautiful he could stare at for days and never tire of, the kind of beautiful that made him appreicate unique features that he wouldn’t even take notice of with anyone else. That gorgeous face smiled down at him, and finally he felt himself relax around the cock buried inside.  
“That’s it, baby. Take your time.”  
Tony both hated and loved the way he was speaking. Genuine kindness and patience made him feel immediately safe, but the simple fact he needed it bothered him. Tony Stark didn’t need coddling or adjustment periods.  
Except when it was a nice long dick sliding into his very tight ass. Something that looked insanely easy but was proving otherwise.  
“It hurts,” Tony croaked, his voice unsteady. “But feels good… but hurts… but feels _so fucking good_.”  
Stephen restrained his laughter to keep himself from moving too much inside of him. “Yeup that sounds about right. So, you good?”  
Another nod. He didn’t trust his voice right now.  
Slowly and carefully, Strange adjusted his knees and lowered himself down to hover just above Tony on his forearms. It meant holding all of his upper body weight on them, and Tony had to admit the way his biceps flexed from the strain was hot as hell. Stephen was slender and lithe in build and it often hid just how much solid muscle the man really had. He worked just as hard, if not harder, than the rest of them. The few sparring matches they had traded were, much to his surprise, rather even. Nothing turned him on quite like knowing the person treating him so delicately could also easily kick his ass. Tony released the sheets he had balled in his fists and trailed his hands up those strong arms, then settled on holding onto his shoulders.  
So close together, it felt like Stephen’s eyes cut into him. Somehow they were so intense and soft at once. Tony found it difficult to hold them, but even more difficult to look away.  
“I’m ready.” Stark whispered and raised his head up a couple of inches to steal a kiss.

Strange locked onto his lips and stretched a moment out kissing him and tasting him and thoroughly distracting him before he began to very gradually pull his hips back. Fingers that clutched at Stephen’s shoulders tightened, but it was bearable. He felt the resistance as the head of his cock caught against the surrounding muscle and had expected him to finish pulling out. But, he didn’t. Stephen plunged himself back into him faster than the initial entry, faster than he expected, though still slow by any standards. Even still, Tony ripped away from the kiss to gasp while his fingers clawed at his back for something to hold onto. Hips flush against him once more, there was no delay pulling back out, and yet another uptick in speed shoving back in. Stark hugged himself tight against the sorcerer which in turn pulled him down against the bed more, and buried his face into the crook of his neck to stifle choked and broken cries. It was by far one of the strangest pains; Enough to make him tense up and clench his jaw and want to shove him off and sit on an ice pack, yet the pleasure seemed perfectly equal to have him pulling Stephen in to every thrust and moaning through uneven breaths.  
Eventually the pain and discomfort faded to the background. His steady pace that was neither too fast or too slow felt better and better and Tony finally released the deathgrip on Stephen to sink back into the mattress again.  
Stephen’s smile was sweet and sultry and Tony felt himself mirroring it as he watched him. Unless he was imagining things, he could have sworn a bashful sort of grin and deepened blush took his face before Strange dropped his head down to kiss and nibble against his clavicle. Cute.  
He tilted his head down to bury against Stephen’s hair, pressing kisses and muffling moans into the dark strands streaked with silver. One of his hands raked down his back and came to a stop against his hip, grabbing and pushing him harder and deeper. Lips moved up to his neck and Stephen traded nibbles for harder bites and kisses for solid, hickey-inducing suckles that brought forth airy laughter through Tony’s moans. Somehow Stephen managed a perfect ratio of deeply passionate and light hearted and Stark couldn’t help but think of how similar it was with Pepper.   
Tony could have her giggling in the midst of steamy lovemaking and playfully smacking him for breaking the mood or squealing from raspberries blown on ticklish spots.  
And suddenly that was _all_ he could think about. And that, of course, rapidly spiraled out of control as memories and flashbacks flooded the backs of his eyelids unbidden. Already in a vulnerable state, anxiety hijacked his head and it was all downhill from there.  
Later, he would be grateful for just how well Stephen paid attention to him and seemed to know the instant something went wrong. So deep in it’s clutches he barely registered Stephen’s movements or any sensations.   
He’d gone numb, and the world went fuzzy, his mind trapped in endless loop of losing her all over again.

Stephen knew within seconds of it happening, though it was hard not to know when your lover stopped responding entirely. Stephen knew better than anyone just how bad his PTSD was, but this had to be a first even for him. That was some serious anxiety to take over while being lovingly fucked. Someday, Stephen hoped he could be the one to heal his broken soul and put an end to these awful episodes. For now, he focused on simply trying to get him back out of the depths of his own trauma. Sex could wait. Stephen rolled off of him and the bed and left him there to curl up on his side, trembling harder than his hands ever had. It was but for a minute to retrieve a damped towel cooled down to an icy chill with a simple spell. Easily, Tony was hoisted up from his fetal position to curl up against his chest once he sat down next to him again, and he gently stroked the back of his neck with the bitter cold of the towel.  
“Come on, baby. You’re alright. Time to come back to me now.” his words were soft and gentle, as though speaking to a spooked woodland creature.   
Stephen pressed the towel to the side of his face and held it there for a moment to let the shocking change in temperature really settle in. Magic was the last thing he wanted to resort to. It was dangerous to go mucking about in someone else’s head, plus probably forbidden by some ancient law he didn’t yet know about.  
“Tony, please…”  
Stephen dragged the towel down his neck and shoulders and against his chest, thoroughly spreading the chill which seemed to slowly drag him out of the hell he was reliving.  
“It’s alright, I’ve got you baby. Breathe, Tony.”  
Tony could vaguely hear his voice, deep and muffled. It was the coldness that broke him free simply for how jarring it was. His breathing was rapid and shallow; Once he became aware of it he tried desperately to control it, letting Stephen’s voice guide him into some form of normality again. _Breathe_ , he said. He could hear that much. Safe, he heard that too.  
Stephen cooled the towel down again, once more placing it at the back of his neck. Tony whimpered - it was fucking cold. Yet the body he leaned against was so warm, and the heartbeat that thudded against his ear was steady. His own started to slow down to match it.  
“Tony, baby, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”  
Finally, he could understand more than just one out of ten words. Slowly he blinked, taking in his surroundings again.  
“Hey, you’re good. I’ve got you.”  
Widened, wild eyes rolled upwards to his face. Stephen could see the pure, raw, naked terror behind his eyes and he hated it. He hated that he couldn’t do anything about it. He hated that Tony had to suffer from it. Hadn’t he suffered enough already?  
But Stephen smiled his best, warmest smile and bent down to kiss his brow.  
“Stephen…”  
“I’m here, Tony. Just breathe, alright?”  
Stark took a slow, deep inhale and released it with some difficulty, his throat wanting to seize and hitch.  
“Just like that, baby.”  
The chilly towel was tossed to the floor and Stephen wrapped him tight in the warmth of his arms, holding him to his chest and wishing he never had to let go again.  
He’d have to settle on the few minutes of silence as Tony fully came back to his senses. At least he could keep him in a safe embrace for that long.


	6. Chapter 6

For Tony, a few minutes felt stretched into a thousand. Returning to a normal state of mind had a way of playing tricks with time. In fact, it often seemed like time didn’t exist at all while recovering. It might have taken him longer to snap back to it, but luckily he wasn’t alone. Luckily there was someone who intimately understood the finite details of his delicately unstable mind that was held together by scotch tape on his best days. Try as the others might, they just didn’t know. They had never looked Death in the face as many times and in as many ways as he had. They didn’t suffer the insurmountable guilt of the thousands of innocent lives lost because of their own creations. They hadn’t yet been stripped naked of everything they held dear while the world watched like circling vultures waiting to pick them apart piece by piece. Perhaps each of them knew a fraction of his sorrows and trauma, but none understood the entire convoluted equation that it truly was.  
Except for Stephen Strange, who knew it all first hand _and then some._ But somehow he kept himself together with calm composure and grace.

“How?” Tony asked, his voice small and quiet.  
Stephen looked down into the mess of dark brunette his face was already half buried into. “How, what?”  
“How have you done what you’ve done… how aren’t you like - like me?”  
“I’m not sure I’m following you…”  
“Broken, Stephen.” Tony pushed away from his chest a few inches to properly look up at him. “Damaged goods. Defective. Fucked up beyond repair.”  
Stephen could taste the bitterness rolling off every word like venom and see the despair and anger stewing within those soulful browns, all of it aimed inward. Tony had enough demons, Stephen hated to see the man turn on himself like one of them. It was part of the process, he knew, to lash out at _something_ , to swing from one mood into the next without much warning until an equilibrium was reached.  
Knowing didn’t make it any easier for him to watch.  
“I have the unfair advantage of magic to hide the worst of it.” An arm unwound from around him to lift a quaking hand. With a few intricate gestures and energy siphoned from one of the infinite realities, a small sphere of fiery orange sparked to life, spinning on some invisible axis. “With this I can build walls so thick and intricate only a Celestial could breech. I can weave lies into truths without ever breaking any of the natural laws.” He rolled the ball across each scarred digit, then around into the palm of his hand. “I hide behind it - too often probably.” He closed his hand around it and it fizzled away. “Because I am broken, too, Tony.”  
“Not like me.” Stark’s eyes fell away from his hand.  
“No. Not like you.” Stephen admitted. “ _Worse._ ”  
His gaze snapped back up, settling on Stephen’s face with cautious disbelief. Stephen continued.  
“I force my physical body to sleep but I haven’t known rest since before the accident. I keep busy on the Astral plane instead, yet even there I cannot hide from the nightmares. Sometimes they become powerful that it drags even my Astral self into them, and at that point they might as well be real. Sometimes they _are_ real, but in another dimension, because magic can go haywire and work against you like that. Every time that happens I have no idea if I’ll be able to escape, if I’ll ever wake up, if I can even get help or do anything about it. I can’t even sit in a parked car without having a breakdown. If I don’t keep my mind busy, constantly, then I end up with panic attacks just like this plus being unable to control my magic. I remember how it feels to have died - every time, every way. And that's only the half of it.”  
Stephen let out a long sigh, leaning back into his pillows behind his back. The absolute worst thing, though, the thing he refused to tell him about was how he remembered every way that goddamn purple nutsack killed Tony. Over fourteen million times he had to watch it happen, each a little worse. That often haunted him more than his own deaths.

Tony had leaned back down against him as he spoke, and once he was done a heavy silence settled over them for a while. Contemplative, pregnant silence full of things left unsaid.  
“Damn, Strange. Didn’t have to go and one-up me with the trauma you absolute drama queen.” Tony broke that silence with his usual snarky humor, as much a coping mechanism as it was defensive.  
“Oh, _I’m_ dramatic? I’m not the one who just had a panic attack because he couldn’t handle a good dicking.”  
Had that come from anyone else, Tony might have knocked their head off their shoulders. Stephen shared his dark and morbid sense of humor, though. It came from a place of mutual understanding. So, Tony laughed - snorted, really, and pushed off of him to grab the other pillow beside the sorcerer.  
“ _Oh my god_ ,” Stark whacked him in the face with it. “I was handling it just fine!” He aimed for another, but Stephen batted it out of the way.  
Reaching behind his back, Strange grabbed the pillow there and rapidly smacked it against the side of Tony’s head, knocking him off balance enough that he fell back. On the way down he flung his pillow towards him, but the aim was off and it went over his shoulder to knock something or another off a nearby shelf, which hit the ground with a crash.  
“Ohfuck,” Tony chortled and started to sit up on his elbows to check what it was, but a soft punch from Stephen’s pillow sent him flat onto his back again.  
Next thing he knew, Stephen was on top of him, sitting his bare ass down onto his stomach with a _plop_ and knocking a winded “Oof!” out of him. The haughty grin Stephen wore didn’t last for long at all; Tony grabbed his arms, both rolling with and throwing him off beside him where he could quickly scramble to straddle his hips and pin his hands down.  
Grinning and panting softly, Tony just kind of stared at him for a lingering second. This was the second time Stephen had managed to turn an ugly episode of anxiety into fits of laughter and lighthearted horseplay. He didn’t have the words to express his gratitude for it. He’d still be curled up, rocking and muttering to himself and still imprisoned in his own head otherwise.  
He could, at least, shower him in physical affection that might just express it enough.

Stephen’s hands were released and Tony slipped down a few inches to grind and rub against the semi-hard cock the sorcerer was sporting after their quick bout of wrestling. His ass was already tender from before, but he physically ached for more. Stephen’s breath caught and a soft moan bit back.  
“Tony, you don’t hav--ohh mmmkay then.” Strange’s mild protest had been interrupted by a very wet and eager mouth against his nipple.  
That, and the friction below had him hard again in no time flat. While he continued to torment Stephen’s chest with hard suction and even harder bites, Tony reached behind to grab his dick and held it in place as he very slowly lowered himself onto it. Luckily he was still pretty slick with excess lube, but not as much as when it had first been applied. The extra friction did hurt just a little, yet he found himself liking it strangely enough. Another one of those good pains.  
Normally quiet, Stephen was anything but that now. With the combination of sinking into his tight ass and Tony _assaulting_ a nipple, he was all gasps and whining moans. He slid down onto the last few inches, and once his cock was buried as deep as it would go, Stark bit down _hard_ , damn near breaking skin. Stephen bucked into him, his loud moan of pleasure choked off by pain that looped right back around to pleasure again. Bucking hips jarred him enough to release the bite, sucking in a sharp breath once he did. Slowly he raised to sit upright where he admired his handywork below. His nipple was bright red and puffy with distinct dark purple teeth impressions around it, glistening with copious saliva. Oh yeah, that was going to blossom into a lovely bruise over the next few days. Tongue dragged over his lower lip to swipe up any remaining drool, then it was drawn in to bite while his gaze flicked up to Stephen’s face. Stark looked like he could eat him alive for the amount of hunger and lust in that single look.  
“Fuck me.” Tony demanded.  
And Stephen obeyed.


	7. Chapter 7

Hours were lost to the seemingly unending depths of passion and pleasure - the likes of which neither had never known. Hot and intense, every little action filled with love and devotion as if long term lovers reunited after years of separation rather than testing the waters on only a second date. Each sigh, moan, whisper, and gasp like a hidden language cultivated over years only the two of them could understand. Every new position an exercise in bodily worship.

The only thing that brought it to an eventual close were their own physical limitations. 

“If I were ten years younger,” Tony said breathlessly as he rolled onto his stomach and wrapped his arms around the one pillow that remained on the bed. “This wouldn’t be over until the sun was up.”  
Equally winded, Stephen managed an airy chuckle. “So I’ve heard.”  
“Been crushing on me that long, have you?”  
“Please. I couldn’t stand you back then.” Stephen leaned down over the bed’s edge a moment, grabbing up the discarded towel still damp from trying to soothe Stark out of his panic. It was used to wipe away the sweat trickling down his face. “Aside from yours truly, you had to be the biggest narcissistic douchebag on the planet.”  
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards and Tony let out tired laughter. “You aren’t wrong. As shitty and traumatic as it was… I’m grateful I was forced to come face to face with the awful person I’d become.”  
“Tony, you weren’t an awful person. You were just an entitled asshole, but your goal was still to protect people. The Iron Man armor didn’t make you a hero - that was already there. Like you said, _you_ are Iron Man.”  
“Jesus, Stephen, could you be more cliché?” Stark groaned, and yet buried his face into the pillow to hide the blush he felt creeping up.  
Maybe Stephen knew just how little praise the man actually recieved for his courageous and selfless efforts time and time again. Perhaps he knew how so many current and former teammates still saw him as little more than a reformed weapons pusher, or how the press and media seemed to love digging up dirty laundry from ancient history. Tony Stark had saved humanity from the brink of extinction more than once and yet it was a rare thing for Stephen to actually hear anyone call him a hero.  
“Well, it’s true.” Stubborn, Strange wasn’t backing down. “I was there during the first attack on New York. Our ER was overflowing. I lost more patients in one day than I had in my entire career. I remember walking down the hall on my way to scrub in for Cadio and I looked out the window… I thought that was it. One of those Moby Dick’s on steroids was coming straight for the hospital.”  
Tony had lifted his face from the pillow to both watch and listen intently. He had been clueless Strange had been present at all during that battle.  
“And then, there you were, this tiny red and gold speck compared to that behemoth. But you attacked it anyway. Again and again until it turned around to come for you. And I watched you carry a goddamn nuke through a goddamn alien portal with no intentions of coming back.”  
His hands had started to shake worse as he recounted the event, one he tried so hard to block out of his mind before.  
“And I fought proudly at _my_ hero’s side on Titan and witnessed something that went so far beyond the definition of the word “hero” that it suddenly made perfect sense that out of the millions upon millions of outcomes the only one we could win was one with you still alive.”  
Pale greens landed on Tony’s face, trapped his big browns in an intense stare down.  
“ _Fuck_ clichés. You are a hero and I’ll say it to you _every damn day_ for as long as I have breath in my lungs to speak.”

Tony wasn’t sure he had ever felt such a mixture of emotions surge through him before.  
It left him utterly speechless.  
The man could have confessed just about anything and nothing would have stricken him quite as profoundly.  
After the words rattled around and fully processed in his brain for a few minutes, Tony was still at a loss for words.  
Stephen settled down to lie on his side facing him, then wrapped an arm around to draw him in closer.  
“Get used to having a boyfriend so defensive of you that he’ll even fight you about it.” Strange broke through the silence with a bit of a grin.  
“Boy-what now?? Serious? You were being serious last time?” Everything came to a screeching, abrupt halt over one little word.  
“Yyyeess?” Stephen had been pretty precise about that last time, so he had to wonder why Tony seemed so confused.   
“Yes!” Said as if answering a proposal, his face beaming almost instantly. “I mean, yeah, of course. I just wasn’t sure if you were pulling my leg last time.”  
“Well, surprise, I wasn’t.” Stephen smirked.  
“So, are you - y’know… out?”  
“I’ve never said anything one way or the other, but if you’re asking if I mind it being public knowledge that we’re together - then no, I don’t mind.”  
Tony smiled more. Stephen felt like his heart might burst. God, he loved the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled like that.  
“I, uh, don’t mind either but… we’d need to time it right. I don’t want a PR nightmare for the team when they’re trying to, y’know, be Avengers and all.”  
“Still worrying about everyone but yourself. Typical.” Stephen leaned in, pecking the tip of his nose. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now… how about a shower?”  
Tony scrunched his nose from the kiss. “Hmm, yeah, shower sounds good. Might have to magic me in there. I don’t know if I can walk after all that.”  
“You’re welcome.” Stephen rolled away and sat up - a little slowly himself as the strain of muscles started to settle in. “Come on, _Iron Man_. Get that beautiful ass up.”

 

Tony wouldn’t question how the sheets had been changed and the bed made, he was just glad for it; The idea of returning to a very dirtied bed after a long and hot shower during which they had one final, exhausting round was not an appealing one.  
After collapsing into it, Stephen slotted up against him as the Big Spoon and held him firm and close. Neither were awake more than a few minutes after.

Morning came, and they slept. As it progressed, the sun crept through the windows more and more until it finally cast over the bed. Tony rolled from the position he had moved to, putting his back to the offending light while slowly cracking eyelids open to the most magnificent sight - Stephen Strange asleep beside him. His hair was a salt-and-pepper mess from sleeping on it wet, chaos in contrast to the pure peaceful bliss of his face. If this was going to be what he was greeted by every morning, Tony didn’t ever want that to change.  
He stretched his arm over his head, groaning from the unexpected soreness and ache accompanying the movement. Stephen blinked a few times from the noise, waking brain taking a moment to process everything. Tony let his arm drape over his head to further block the sun from his eyes, and with nothing more than a sheet that hung precariously low on his hips, it was quite the image to drink in.  
“Mornin’ Doc.” Stark flashed a wide smile his way, cheeks dusted in a subtly rosy tint.  
This was too much. Stephen was sure he was still dreaming. He shifted onto his back, arms raised to fold across his head. It wasn’t a dream, though. He felt the mattress give and bounce slightly as Tony moved beside him. He felt the sheet sliding down his legs as it was pulled. He felt the warmth of Tony’s thighs settle against either hip and his weight as he lowered to sit against him. His own smile broke out, sleepy and sweet.  
“Wake up, sleeping beauty.” Tony purred from atop him, admiring how gorgeous he looked.  
Pale skin was dotted with reddish-purple hickies and bite marks, nipples still pink from the loving abuse, one quite a bit more than the other, plus some impressions of his teeth, and he could make out a bright pink flooding his face beneath the arms covering it.  
This… this he could _definitely_ get used to every morning.  
Finally, Stephen moved his arms above his head and squinted against the brightness of the room for a moment before fixating on the literal Adonis straddling him. Sunkissed skin only seemed to glow in the morning sunlight, his own smattering of lovebites and bruises better hidden, blending in with the darker tone. It might have been the most erotic thing he’d ever seen first thing in the morning, too. Tony had himself on full display with his legs spread around his hips, and he only seemed to exaggerate it with a long stretch of his arms above his head.  
“Are you just trying to get me hard?” Stephen’s voice was still groggy and rough.  
“Nah, you already are.” Tony wiggled against him, trying not to wince from the number of aches. “Morning wood, much?”  
Strange laughed gruffly, hands moving to rest on Tony’s thighs, slowly gliding up and down solid muscles. “Didn’t get enough last night?”  
“Of you? Not sure I’ll ever get enough, babe.” His grin was mischievous, but instead of further provoking him, Tony leaned forward to lay against him, peppering his neck in little kisses, tickling and scratching with his bearded chin, giving rise to easy laughter from his boyfriend. “Just wanted to give you something nice to wake up to.”  
With arms loosely wrapping around him, Stephen kissed against the top of his head and turned to rest his cheek against it.  
“Tony, as long as you’re just there beside me, it is the _best_ thing to wake up to.”


End file.
